creamy mints

these little bites of creamy, minty goodness are a breeze to make...

...and perfect for a bridal shower brunch. if you are throwing one of those this weekend or anytime soon.

bonus that they keep for more than a week in the refrigerator. if you can keep your husband out of them.

creamy mints
30 minutes, makes about 3 dozen candies

update 12.28.2011 - in response to the overwhelming number of questions in the comments for these, here are a list of responses to frequently asked questions. please read through them before making the mints. good luck!
storage. mints will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4+ weeks.
cream cheese amount. three tablespoons is enough to keep the mixture together. it will be really stiff, which is exactly what you want so the mints keep their shape at room temperature.
reduced fat vs regular cream cheese. regular cream cheese makes the mixture a bit softer and will require more powdered sugar to get a stiff mint.
crumbly mints. if your mixture starts to become too dry and crumbly, and you have cream cheese left, make sure it's nice and soft and add a little bit at a time (a teaspoon or tablespoon, depending on how dry it is). make sure it's mixed in really evenly and add it a little at a time until you have the right consistency. if you're all out of cream cheese, try water. add a very small amount (no more than a teaspoon) at a time, mix really well, until you have the right consistency.
too wet mints. if your mixture is too wet, add more sugar, a little bit at a time.

update 8.10.2012 - to those of you who said 3 tablespoons of cream cheese isn't enough, you're right. i wrote down three tablespoons instead of three ounces. so you need 6 tablespoons of cream cheese and i've updated the recipe to reflect that.

6 tablespoons (3 ounces) reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1/4 teaspoon mint extract
food coloring (optional) - i used a few drops of yellow to get a very soft butter color
4 to 4 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
about 1/4 cup superfine or granulated sugar

1. beat the cream cheese until soft and fluffy, about two minutes. add the mint and food coloring, if using, and mix until blended.
2. add the confectioners sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, until it forms a stiff mixture.
3. form balls with about 1/2 teaspoon of the mixture. roll in the superfine sugar and flatten with your thumb or tines of a fork. store in the refrigerator.

check out more sweet treats at sweets for a saturday!

2013.01.07 this is Cook Lisa Cook's pick for the secret recipe club!
2013.12.08 this is saturday evening pot's pick for the secret recipe club!

roasted brussels sprouts

it's time to cut through all this sugar and chocolate with some vegetables. now that the weather is finally nice - we made it all day yesterday without rain and it's finally warm enough for shorts - we go to the public market every saturday morning. this year, my plan is to purchase something new, some fruit or vegetable that i've never had before, and make it. i don't know if i'll run out of options before the season is over, but i'm hoping to find some new fruits and vegetables that i can add to the rotation.

and while i know many people who told us we have to try these, how easy they were to prepare and how great the kitchen smelled while they were roasting, i didn't care for them much. jason, on the other hand, finished his plate, finished the rest from the pan, and finished what i left on my plate.

roasted brussels sprouts
30 minutes

1/2 cup raw brussels sprouts per person
olive oil
kosher or sea salt

1. preheat your oven to 400F.
2. rinse the brussels sprouts, cut off the bottom, slice in half and place on a baking sheet. drizzle liberally with olive oil and sea salt. toss the sprouts around so they're evenly coated.
3. bake for about 20 minutes, or until starting to brown.

baked kale chips

i'm officially moved! well, for right now any way. we don't get to move in to our new apartment until early next month, so for right now we're crashing at my mom's house. she lovingly took both us and our cats in, effectively tripling the number of residents under one roof, but we're going to do our best to make it up to her with dinners out, short vanilla lattes and amazing company.

this isn't a sweet post, but i haven't had the energy to break out my stand mixer and whip something fancy up. instead, i've decided to go healthy, vegan and savory and make some baked kale chips. i know i'm a little late to jump on this super delicious bandwagon, but i snagged a bunch at the store today and decided to whip these up for a snack. 

i filled two baking sheets with kale and it was enough snacking material for two people. it may seem like you're making a ton initially, but i promise that when it wilts down you'll be glad you over-did it.

i sprinkled my chips - and yes, they are crispy and savory enough to use that term - with some garlic powder before i popped them in the oven. the beauty of this recipe is that it's totally customizable and you can really make them whatever "flavor" you're craving. my boyfriend suggested that we grab some ranch powder from the store to spice up the next batch. if nothing else, these will be far healthier than any bag of cool ranch doritos. 

baked kale chips

yields two snack-sized servings

3-4 leaves of kale, torn

1 tablespoon olive oil

garlic powder, sea salt, or other spice to taste

1. preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2. wash and tear kale into chip-sized pieces, leaving out center heart.

3. lightly toss kale in olive oil until evenly covered - a little oil goes a long way!

4. line two baking sheets with foil (makes for easy clean-up!) and distribute kale evenly along sheet. i place mine side-by-side with a little breathing room between them. you want to give them enough space to flatten down without touching each others - this makes for extra crispiness! 

5. bake kale in oven for 20-25 minutes or until chips lift easily off sheet. if you're doing two racks, make sure to check the lower sheet earlier (it will bake quicker!) and give them top one a little more time. my lower sheet was done at around 17 minutes, while my upper needed 21 or 22. 

6. once baked, carefully peel chips off foil and place in bowl. eat while warm!

nutritional information:

(note: this info is for 2 cups of raw kale & 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil)

calories: 132, fat: 3.9g, cholesterol: 0.0 mg, sodium: 146 mg, potassium: 146.2 mg, carbs: 7.3 g, fiber: 2.6g, protein: 2.5g. 

thanks for reading & happy baking!

amanda

ps: please excuse my less-than-gorgeous photos. i'm hoping to get my camera unpacked and my mini-studio set up sooner rather than later. figured some photographic documentation was better than nothing!

pps: thank you to all those who have sent me lovely little messages or comments of encouragement. your words keep me excited about baking!

french silk chocolate pie

this is the best chocolate dessert i've ever had. ever. next time you need a chocolate fix - and i mean a real fix, like you broke a glass jar of snapple on your kitchen floor right before leaving for work, it's really tuesday and all day you thought it was thursday, or something else miserably awful happened - skip the cookies and the cakes and head straight for this pie.

i can't comment much on the making of the pie, since y mom tackled it. all day she mentioned how hard she worked making it, how long it took, and how many dirty dishes resulted from making it. and how she'd never make it again. ever. i must have heard it six times. fast forward to dessert. with her first mouthful of pie, she was already planning when to make it again.

french silk chocolate pie
adapted from cook's illustrated entertaining, spring 2011

pie crust:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2 inch squares and chilled
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch squares and chilled
4 to 6 tablespoons ice water

custard:
1 cup heavy cream
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and room temperature

1. make the crust. in a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. add the chilled shortening and pulse until small pieces remain. add the butter and process until the mixture is a coarse meal. transfer the mixture to a large bowl and sprinkle four tablespoons of the ice water over the mixture. use a rubber spatula and mix until dough forms. form the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for an hour.
2. remove the dough disc from the refrigerator and place between two sheets of parchment paper. use a rolling pin to roll out to a 12 inch circle. transfer to a pie plate and trim, fold, and crimp the edges.
3. cover the pie shell in plastic wrap, refrigerate about 40 minutes, and freeze an additional 20. preheat your oven to 375F. line the pie shell with parchment paper, top with pie weights, and bake until set, about 20 to 25 minutes. remove the pie weights and parchment and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until lightly brown. set aside while you make the filling.
4. whip the cream into stiff peaks in a medium bowl with a mixer. refrigerate.
5. combine the eggs, sugar, and water in a large metal bowl set over a saucepan with an inch or so of simmering water. use an electric mixer to beat the mixture until thick and registers 160F, about 10 minutes. remove the bowl from the pan of simmering water and continue to beat until fluffy and room temperature, about 10 minutes more.
6. add the chocolate and vanilla to the egg mixture. beat in the butter, a few pieces at a time, until it is well combined. use a spatula to fold in the whipped cream until evenly combined. spoon the chocolate filling into the pie shell and refrigerate until set, about three hours.

check out more sweet treats at sweet tooth friday, sweets for a saturday and sweet indulgences sunday!

2014.02.02 this was cupcake muffin's pick for the secret recipe club!

secret recipe club: roasted banana rum cake

my good friend erica has been requesting a rum cake for the last few months. for one reason or another, i simply haven't gotten to it. on a seemingly unrelated note, last month, after seeing a number of secret recipe club postings on other blogs, i decided to join. i started clicking through shelby's recipes on the life & loves of grumpy's honeybunch one saturday night and stopped dead when i found this banana rum cake. perfect!

i tweaked it ever so slightly by roasting the bananas in the oven before adding them to the cake. and just as shelby recommended, i cut back on the glaze to a bit less than half. and i thinned it out a bit with water to make it nice and runny.

what's the secret recipe club? it's a much better version of secret santa. each month participating bloggers are assigned another participating blogger to make a recipe from. you pick the recipe, adapt it as you wish, make it, and then post about it on the same day. click to find out more information or join.

check out the other recipes from grumpy's honeybunch i can't wait to try:

haley's blackberry polenta muffins
decked out sloppy joes
bananas foster snacking cake
maple scones with maple glaze
vanilla cake donuts
cappuccino biscotti
 
roasted banana rum cake
adapted from allrecipes.com, via the life & loves of grumpy's honeybunch
2 hours, serves 12

for the cake:
3 bananas
1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup dark rum
2/3 cup water

2 eggs

for the glaze:

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon dark rum

1. preheat your oven to 400F and line a sheet pan with aluminum foil. peel the bananas and cut them into one inch thick slices. spread the slices around evenly on the pan. bake about 20 minutes, or until brown. let cool. lower the oven to 350F and grease a bundt pan.
2. place the bananas in a large bowl and mash them with a fork. add the cake mix, baking soda, rum, water, and eggs and mix until smooth. pour into the bundt pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. let cool in the pan about 10 minutes before turning out to a cooling rack to cool completely.
3. to make the glaze, whisk the butter, sugar, vanilla, and rum together into a thick paste. add water, a few drops at a time, until the glaze is thin. once the cake is cool, drizzle with the glaze.

chai biscotti

there are two things i've recently discovered that my mother in law loves: chai and pistachio biscotti. so much so that last christmas when i was in oklahoma, we made both! it was only a matter of time before i put the two together...and shipped them off for mother's day!

chai biscotti sounds like something someone, somewhere, at some point has already made. already figured out. but if they have, it's hiding since i wasn't able to find any. sure, there are plenty of chai cookies - most of them spiced, but missing the black tea. so i winged it, spicing up the dough and adding loose black tea. yes, it sounds odd. but yes, it works. these are definitely keepers!

chai biscotti

1 hour, makes 24



1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

2 black tea bags, cut open and the tea loose (i like Tazo Awake)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1. preheat your oven to 350F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. using a mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. add the eggs one at a time, then the sugar, spices, and tea. mix until creamed. add the baking powder and salt and mix until combined. add the flour, about 1/2 cup at a time, until incorporated.
3. divide the dough roughly in half (eyeball it). using your hands, roll each half into a log about 12 inches long. lay the log on the sheet pan and gently push the log down until it is about 3/4 inch high. bake for about 35 minutes, or until the tops are just starting to crack and brown.
4. let the logs cool on the pan for about five minutes and then transfer to a cutting board. using a bread or other serrated knife, cut each log into about 3/4 inch pieces. lay the pieces back on the sheet pan, bottom side down, leaving room between the cookies. bake an additional 12 minutes, or until the sides feel dry to the touch.
5. cool on a cooling rack and store in an airtight container.

ina's chocolate cupcakes

it all started with an absolutely awful chocolate cupcake that i bought for my birthday a year and a half ago. i immediately recreated them at home, and was only slightly impressed with the cake. then a few months ago, for my dad's birthday i turned to martha again and came up short with her one bowl chocolate cake. the quest continues with ina and her chocolate cake recipe. and unless i see something else that's short of genius, this is it! best chocolate cake i've had in a really really long time. maybe ever. yes, ever.

i have a feeling the secret is in the coffee. i remember one saturday morning, in the dead of winter, i watched an out-of-the-ordinary episode of barefoot contessa. ina had two versions of her recipes - one with 'normal' ingredients and one with a 'secret' ingredient that kicked up the flavor of the dessert. she baked both versions and her friends tasted them to decide which was best. i specifically remember the chocolate cupcakes. and the version made with coffee was declared the winner by everyone.

and in my house, even the self declared coffee hater loved them. 

ina's chocolate cupcakes
adapted from ina garten, via my baking addiction
1 hour, makes 24 cupcakes

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
double batch of peanut butter buttercream

1. preheat your oven to 350F and line 24 cupcake tinswith paper liners. set aside.
2. in a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. set aside.
3. in a separate medium bowl, mix the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until incorporated. slowly mix in the hot coffee. the batter will be very very thin.
4. distribute the batter between the cupcake tins, about 1/4 cup batter per tin. bake for about 18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing. cool completely before frosting with peanut butter buttercream.

springtime birthday cupcakes

i mentioned in my last post that i was doing all the baking for a first birthday - here are the promised results! 

i ended up with four flavors: vanilla cake with vanilla bean buttercream, vanilla cake with strawberry buttercream, lemon cake filled with lemon curd with lemon butter cream, and lemon cake with strawberry buttercream. 

all the flavors and colors fit in perfectly with the spring-time garden theme of the party and i received a very adorable photo of the birthday girl eating cookies & cupcakes, so i'd say it was a success!

hope everyone is enjoying the warming weather!

amanda

raspberry jam tart

this tart was the perfect accompaniment to our wienerschnitzel and spaetzle at our austrian dinner party last month. and i have a feeling it will be making more appearances later this summer. especially given how quickly it comes together, how very little hands on time is needed, and how many jars of blackberry and strawberry jam and peaches i have in the basement. bonus that you probably have all the ingredients on hand now and could whip one up right this second. and at our seven person dinner party, we devoured it, leaving one piece for jason and i to split for breakfast the next morning.

raspberry jam tart
adapted from david lebovitz and smitten kitchen
2 hours (includes chilling & baking time), serves 8 to 12

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup stone-ground cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup  sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/8 teaspoon (a small splash) almond extract
1 3/4 cups(a 12 ounce jar) raspberry jam

1. whisk the flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. set aside. 
2. in a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until smooth. add the egg, yolk, and almond and mix well.
3. slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix just until it comes together. 
4. divide the dough roughly into thirds (just eyeball it, no need to measure exactly). roll one third into a log, about two inches in diameter. roll in plastic wrap and refrigerate. pat the remaining two thirds of the dough into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch tart pan. chill for one hour.
5. preheat your oven to 375F. spread the jam evenly over the dough in the pan. using a sharp knife, cut the log of dough into about 1/8 inch thick rounds. layer the rounds on top of the tart and completely cover the top. sprinkle with granulated sugar.
6. bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. let cool in the pan for 15 to 20 minutes, before unmolding.

marbled sugar cookies

as i type, right around 63% of my life is in boxes. the remaining 37% is mostly a combination of shoes and baking supplies. if i were a math person i would come up with some kind of equation or pie chart to determine the length of time something spends in a box (let's say y) as directly correlated to my need to use it on a daily basis (should this be x? z? something squared?).

can you tell i was more of an arts & humanities girl?

in an attempt to use up some of the flour and sugar i have before we move next week, i decided to make a batch of marbled cookies. my co-worker has the most adorable baby on planet earth (seriously, i'm not even a baby person!) who is turning one on saturday and i was recruited to make the desserts for the party.

the party is spring garden themed so i ended up making a batch of butterflies cookies and a batch of "a" and "n" cookies (featured above!), which conveniently spell out the baby's name. i'm honestly not sure if i would have the patience to spell out a name with more than two letters, but you could always go the initials route!

i apologize in advance for there not being any new recipes until next week when i finally get to half-unpack. i may try to coerce my very talented sister to do another guest post since her last one was so popular!

as always, thank you for reading & happy baking!


amanda 

chewy lemon sugar cookies

if you're lucky enough to know my husband, then you know he's a sucker for anything lemon. lemon tarts. lemon curd. lemon cake. even his favorite adult beverage is lemon! so it's surprising that it's taken me this long to make lemon cookies.

the thing is, my oven is finicky. it's old. and small (so much so that we call it the 'easy bake'). and the few times i have tried to make sugar cookies before they did not end so well. usually they bake unevenly, puff up or turn into flat crunchy pancakes. so i was skeptical. so much so, that i consulted not only cook's illustrated, but baking illustrated. and of course, they both have recipes claiming to be the best. they also both have the backstory describing why the method used in the other recipe is no good. for example, cook's prefers a cookie with a variety of fats (butter + cream cheese + vegetable oil) while baking illustrated wants all butter. so i did what the cook's illustrated test kitchen would do: i made both recipes in two days.

the clear winner? cook's illustrated. first: they didn't turn into flat pancakes or puffy light cookies. second: not only are they chewy, but they stayed chewy. we have a few left - five days after i made them. sure, they're past their prime, but they aren't even close to dried up hard as a rock hockey pucks. and in all fairness, the baking illustrated cookies aren't hard as a rock either, but they have lost their chew!

chewy lemon sugar cookies
adapted from cook's illustrated, nov/dec 2010
1 hour, makes 24

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus a few tablespoons for rolling
2 ounces cream cheese, cut into small cubes
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and warm
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1. preheat your oven to 350F and line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
2. in a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. set aside.
3. in a larger bowl, add the sugar and cream cheese. pour the melted butter over the cream cheese to soften slightly. whisk until there are only small lumps of cream cheese left (they will mix in later on and you'll never know they were there). whisk in the oil until smooth. then add the egg, milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice and mix until smooth.
4. pour all of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and use a rubber spatula or large spoon to mix together.
5. put a couple tablespoons of sugar into the bottom of the dry ingredient bowl (which is now relatively clean). portion the dough into about a tablespoon and a half size portions. roll into balls and roll the balls into the sugar to coat. place the balls on the lined baking sheets, no closer than two inches apart.
6. once all the dough has been portioned, use a glass with a flat bottom (or the bottom of a measuring cup) to slightly press on the balls just to flatten them. they should be about a half inch tall and two inches in diameter.
7. bake for about 10 minutes or until just starting to brown. let cool on the sheet pan for five minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. store in an airtight container. 

2013.03.04 this is phemomenon's pick for the secret recipe club!

hot chocolate cookies

i love chocolate just as much as the next girl and i always thought the classic chocolate peanut butter chip cookies were the ultimate chocolate cookie. but those aren't even close to the chocolatey goodness of these. cocoa is swapped out with hot chocolate mix and the peanut butter chips have been ditched for a mix of chocolate. but the chewy center and crunchy edges stay perfectly intact, like any great cookie should. and given the two dozen or so i brought in to work were gone way before lunchtime, i'm not the only one in love.

hot chocolate cookies
adapted from baked bree
2 hours (includes chilling & baking time), makes 4 dozen

baked cookies freeze really well. warm up cooled and frozen cookies (to remelt the chips) in the microwave for about 20 seconds.

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
4 ounces hot chocolate mix (not sugar free)
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups of chocolate chips - semisweet, milk, and white - whatever you have or prefer

1. in a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa mix, salt, and baking soda together. set aside.
2. in a separate bowl, use a mixer to cream the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes.
3. add the eggs and vanilla to the butter mixture and mix until combined.
4. add the dry ingredients to the wet, a bit at a time, until incorporated.
5. fold in the chocolate chips.
6. chill the dough for one hour.
7. preheat your oven to 350F. line two baking sheets with parchment paper. drop by rounded teaspoons on about 2 inches apart.
8. bake them one sheet at a time, for about 10 minutes. let cool on the sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

check out more sweet treats at sweet tooth friday and sweets for a saturday!


2011.05.16 Flamingo Musings chose this for secret recipe club!